Mary and Joseph did have children, therefore they were Jesus' half-brothers and-sisters. Matthew 13:56 reads: "Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us?"
So we know he had 4 brothers and at least 3 sisters (if there had been only 2, the word 'both' would have been used instead of 'all') who are accepted as half brothers and sisters. Because of this, it follows that Joseph and Mary were husband and wife, and that all those mentioned were alive when Jesus was.
Matthew 12:46 also refers to Jesus' mother and brothers: "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him."
We must also presume that Joseph was already dead when Jesus was crucified. Joseph is never mentioned during Jesus' ministry; and when he was being crucified, Jesus asked John to look after Mary as if she were his own mother (John 19:26,27) At that time, none of Jesus' family believed in him and his message. Yet afterwards some did believe, and the letters written by two of them, James and Jude (or Judas) are part of the New Testament.
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i have a question the joseph mary's husband is named one of his son joseph , how can it be ? please if you have any thing to say to me about this let me know it . GOD BLESS YOU!
"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"
These were the sons and daughters of Joseph and Mary. The people in the neighbourhood thought so, and spoke of them as such. Yes, one of the sons carried the same name as his father; i.e., Joseph. This was a popular move, as shown in the intended naming of John the Baptist:
“And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." “ Luke 1:59-60
We are informed that the mothers of Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Elisabeth (the mother of John) were related: the Greek word used is suggenēs, which Thayer defines as:
1) of the same kin, akin to, related by blood
2) in a wider sense, of the same nation, a fellow countryman
Although the KJV uses the word ‘cousin’, we have no real idea how close the relationship was.
For though Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron, or of the tribe of Levi by her father's side, yet it might be of the tribe of Judah by her mother's side, and so akin to Mary. The Persic version calls her "aunt by the mother's side".
We can’t therefore provide you with a conclusive answer, except to say it was a blood-relations hip of some sort, and it would appear fairly close since Mary appeared to know Elisabeth beforehand.
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